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Article with the Best Title
No one can say who history will choose to remember, or for what they will be remembered. Sometimes a lifetime of achievement can be forgotten because of a single misdeed. Few historic figures relate to this statement more than the English Queen Mary Tudor. Remembered today as a drink, or as a ghost story told by young children, Queen Mary was the first self-reigning queen of England during a time of radical religious change within her realm. The atrocities she committed during her reign would forever live on, and earn her the nickname Bloody Mary.
Mary Tudor was born in the year 1516 to King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. Although he wanted a son, King Henry was very fond and proud of Mary, whom he showed off to many people in the castle and in the London markets. As he was showing her off to a French envoy, King Henry was heard shouting “By immortal God, Master Ambassador, this girl never cries!”1 Beginning at the tender age of six, Mary was offered up for marriage multiple times, including to her cousin Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, and to the son of King Francis I of France, and even to King Francis himself. She was crowned by her father as the first princess of Wales.
Because Catherine had not given him a son, King Henry sought to annul their marriage. However, at the insistence of Catherine, Charles V and papacy refused to grant Henry the annulment. Henry did not take kindly to their refusal and sought to distance himself from their ecclesiastical rule to establish his own.With his new adviser, Thomas Cromwell, a known Protestant, by his side, King Henry announced the Act of Succession, formally separating the England from the authority of Rome. He then enacted the Act of Supremacy, which placed him as the head of the new Church of England.2
Much of northern England discontented with the current state of affairs. Growing ever more restless with rising taxes, hardships, and now the separation from the Roman Catholic Church, many villages began to revolt. Cromwell sought to quell the rebellion by enacting the Pilgrimage of Grace. Many monasteries and places of worship were burned to the ground while the government issued the Ten Articles of Religion, religious rules that had to be practiced, many of which heavily favored Protestant traditions. These actions only led to further uprisings that eventually posed a threat to King Henry’s rule.3
Once again under the guidance of Thomas Cromwell, King Henry executed over two-hundred of the insurgents, effectively ending the uprising. A young Mary watched as her father sentenced his enemies to death, establishing his power and right to reign through force. This display of power would shape Mary and her eventual reign as monarch.4
Mary was very close to her mother growing up, and believed very deeply in the Catholic traditions and values instilled in her at a young age. After Catherine’s annulment, Mary quickly sided with her mother and developed a deep hatred of Henry’s new wife, Anne Boleyn. Angry that Mary chose to side with Catherine instead of him, Henry separated Mary from her mother, stripped her of her title,which she would never regain in her lifetime. After the birth of her new half sister Elizabeth, Mary became illegitimate in the eyes of the royal court and lost all right to the throne. She was forced to live in Elizabeth’s house, where she was hated and reviled by her step mother Anne Boleyn until her execution years later. Scholars believe Mary suffered from congenital syphilis, which she inherited from her father. This, coupled with the psychological stress she endured, caused her to spend the next several years in and out of severe illness.5
On 12 October 1537, Edward VI was born to King Henry and his third wife, Jane Seymour. Now Henry finally had a son who would succeed him upon his death, which happened in 1547. Under Edward’s rule, Protestantism was given Edward’s full sponsorship, and an English Reformation ensued, which brought a thorough-going persecution of all things Catholic. Despite this, Mary continued to practice her faith, holding mass in her private chapel, which was in open defiance of the many religious laws put in place at Edward’s behest. Edward’s rule, however, was short lived; he reigned only six years before dying of illness. Before he died, Edward altered the line of succession to ensure that Lady Jane Gray, a Protestant and grand-daughter of King Henry’s sister, would take the throne instead of his half-sister Mary. Lady Jane became queen, and Mary was forced to flee for her life from the castle. She was faced with a choice: flee the country, or try to oppose her rule.6
To the surprise of many, Mary garnered large support and loyalty from many subjects, including East Anglian nobility. In a matter of days she had amassed an army strong enough to oppose the English council and end the rule of the nine-day queen. At 37 years old, Mary Tudor ascended to the throne. In 1554 Queen Mary issued an order, which declared that queens held equal power to kings, effectively becoming the first regnant queen of England.7 As a monarch Mary worked ceaselessly in the name of her kingdom. It was said that she woke up at dusk to pray, then worked in government well passed midnight. Despite the struggles she had endured throughout life, and the cruelty she later become known for, Mary was described by many as kind and caring woman. She was known for interest in fine jewelry while still insisting she remained a simple woman, with an inclination towards gambling.8
Mary immediately worked towards reestablishing the papacy’s control over England. She began a reverse Reformation, undoing many of the religious laws in place and replacing them with new laws meant to reestablish Catholicism in England. Many disagreed with her efforts, and did not believe she had a right rule. Uprisings began as people defied many of the religious laws she put into place, practicing their faith in secret as Catholics had done only a few years ago. As her father had done before her, Queen Mary established her power and authority by executing all those who defied the new laws. Protestant prisoners were dragged from their cells, tied to stakes, and burned alive for all to see. Often times these prisoners were covered in hot tar to make the flames burn longer. Many of the people executed were young. Mothers were burned alongside their children. An estimated 294 were believed to have died under her rule9.
For Queen Mary, these executions were not just punishing those who broke the religious laws of the land, but a way of purifying England so as to restore it to its former state of communion with Rome. As she had witnessed from her father before her, public executions were also an efficient way to establish power and dominance over the people, great and small. This may have been a necessary power play, since many doubted whether she actually had the strength to rule, because she was a woman. These executions did produce the desire outcome; however, the people sacrificed to the flames soon became martyrs, and Protestant sentiment grew even stronger among its followers. Those who escaped her purge began referring to the queen as “bloody Mary,” because of all of the Protestant blood she had shed.10
Despite the loyalty she had garnered among her followers, many people still believed a queen would be too weak to rule on her own. Many members of her council had also served under Lady Jane as well, providing more obstacles for her to overcome. Mary knew she needed to produce an heir to ensure that Elizabeth would never ascend to the throne. She married King Phillip II of Spain, son of Emperor Charles V, a decision that many considered to be the worst in her reign. Sir Thomas Wyatt, a Protestant leader, staged a rebellion against the matter, led by many other prominent Protestants. Many years into their tumultuous relationship,Phillip convinced Mary to aid Spain in his war against France. which she did, and it resulted in massive losses for the English navy.11
Like her brother before her, Mary’s reign was short lived, lasting only five years. She died in the year 1558, after finally succumbing to illness.12 Elizabeth was then crowned reigning monarch, devoting her time as queen to rebuilding the Church of England. As her father had done before her, Elizabeth sought to establish a middle ground between the two warring religions. She instilled traditions from both Catholicism and Protestantism to establish peace among the people.
Though a trail blazer in every sense of the word, Queen Mary is instead remembered as the “Tyrant Tudor” reviled by many for the ferocious acts she committed in the name of her faith.[ 13. Neil Jones, “The Rise and Fall of Bloody Mary,” Britain 84, no. 2 (April 3, 2016): 66.]
- Neil Jones, “The Rise and Fall of Bloody Mary,” Britain 84, no. 2 (April 2016): 66. ↵
- Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, January 2016, s.v. “Henry VIII,” by William T. Walker. ↵
- Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, January 2016, s.v. “Pilgrimage of Grace,” by Sharon L. Arnoult. ↵
- Niki Incorvia, “A Threshold of Genocide: Microgenocide in Mary Tudor’s Revenge on Protestant England and Catherine de Medici’s Massacre of the Huguenots,” International Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Society 5, no. 3, (September 2015): 54. ↵
- Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, April 2016, s.v. “1516–58 Mary I, Queen of England.” ↵
- Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, 2016, s.v. “Mary I.,” by Ann Weikel. ↵
- Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, 2016, s.v. “Mary I,” by Ann Weikel. ↵
- Neil Jones, “The Rise and Fall of Bloody Mary,” Britain 84, no. 2 (April 2016): 66. ↵
- Niki Incorvia, “A Threshold of Genocide: Microgenocide in Mary Tudor’s Revenge on Protestant England and Catherine de Medici’s Massacre of the Huguenots,” International Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Society 5, no. 3 (September 2015): 54–55. ↵
- Niki Incorvia, “A Threshold of Genocide: Microgenocide in Mary Tudor’s Revenge on Protestant England and Catherine de Medici’s Massacre of the Huguenots,” International Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Society 5, no. 3 (September 2015): 54–55. ↵
- Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, April 2016, s.v. “1516–58 Mary I, Queen of England.” ↵
- Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, April 2016, s.v. “1516–58 Mary I, Queen of England.” ↵
This Post Has 120 Comments
Zachary Kobs
16 Feb 2020Very unsurprising that her nickname was earned through the persecution of opposing religions and defiers. What did surprise me though was that there was no folklore or the mention of a mirror besides in a title. I remember growing up and having sleepovers where friends would do the name game and nobody would use the restroom for the rest of the night.
Hali Garcia
16 Feb 2020This is a great article. I have heard about Queen Mary I and that her nickname was “Bloody Mary,” but I did not know that she was the one in the horror stories. Her reign was truly a brutal one and it is interesting to see the parallels between her and her father. After reading about how her father had treasured her when she was a child and then completely ignoring her lead to how she would reign brutally.
Antonio Holverstott
4 Feb 2020After reading this article, I have concluded that Queen Mary and King Henry were both similar to each other. Her father used religion as a means of not leading people in the right direction but as a tool for his own personal glory and benefit. This was, in some ways, how Mary operated. She used her preexisting religious sincerity to control others in the name of the crown. Both Henry and Mary had a known vice. Henry’s vice was misusing women for his own personal gains, such as only using her to have a son and nothing more. Mary’s vice was gambling which meant that she could have gambled away money necessary to run the kingdom if she wasn’t restrained by her biblically influenced mindset.
Samuel Vega
2 Feb 2020Persecution in the name of religion continues. This article gives insight into the lineage of monarchies as well. It seems that death was so acceptable to maintain power in a monarchy. When Mary Tudor came to power she seemed to have a large following in a short period of time. She followed in her footsteps. Her father, King Henry, followed Protestant traditions and slaughtered those who practiced Catholicism and Mary persecuted those who did not follow Catholic traditions. The title of the article reflects the daughter following in her father’s footsteps.
Brisella Olivares
1 Nov 2019I was really surprised when I read this article because i thought it was going to be something related to the folklore of something that still scares me to this day lol. I did know there was an actual person to this “bloody mary” story. I was really shocked when i read how she brutally executed her prisoners and that she didnt care about age nor gender. I have read so many articles about parents mistreating their children and their children become so heartless and disturbed and i believe thats why mary was the way she was.
Nicole Ortiz
1 Nov 2019Before reading this article, I had only known about the famous Bloody Mary ghost story and assumed that was what this article was going to be about but i sure was wrong. I didn’t know that it stemmed from Queen Mary and all of the killings that she had done while she was queen. Despite all of the blood that was on her hands, one can understand why she was the way she was because of how badly her father had treated her and left her to the side like as if she had never existed.
Olivia Tijerina
29 Oct 2019From the message I have gained the perspective that Mary would receive her influence greatly from her father when in power. She had forced her favor in religion as her father King Henry VIII would commit to. Throughout Mary’s journey to gain her reign it is ,ironically, not everlasting and goes to her step-sister Elizabeth whom she had tried to keep from. Same situation as it was for her brother Edward, whom the kings effort was to have him for a lasting one.Overall, what is also a turning point is also when Elizabeth finally receive her reign it is against what her father and step sister were all about.
Gabriella Urrutia
27 Oct 2019I had heard of people saying Bloody Mary to scare children, but I never knew that it was related to Queen Mary. This was a very informative article and well written. It was interesting to learn about how Mary earned her nickname. She killed people in order to make them fear her so that she could have control over them.
Addie Piatz
27 Oct 2019Before reading this article the only thing I thought I knew about bloody Mary was the horror story my friends told be that kept me up all night as a kid. I did not know she was a real person and quite a brutal one at that. I think one of the reasons she was so brutal probably had something to do with her childhood and her relationship with her parents, mainly her father and the way he treated his family.